Last Updated on July 8, 2021
No garden to compost veggie scraps from your kitchen? No worries, try this low waste Asparagus Peels with Sesame. It’s a Japanese flavored vegan dish using asparagus peels that you most likely throw away.
The Idea Behind The Recipe
When you buy medium to large (thick) asparagus, chances are you may have to shave off the tough skin. They are still edible but has a unpleasant texture when chewing. One day, we bought medium size asparagus in an attempt to make a new recipe. Then right before shaving, the guilt of throwing away the peels had us thinking that it’s such a waste.
That’s how this recipe was born!
So, the idea of this recipe is to make a dish out of veggie scraps that we would normally discard. For that reason, please don’t be surprised by the smaller than normal serving size. Next time, if you happened to end up buying lots of medium to large asparagus spears, now you know you can potentially make another delicious snack out of it.
The Flavor
As mentioned above, it’s better as a snack or appetizer and we use about 2 pounds of medium sized ones which was about 40 spears. In our opinion, it was barely enough for 2 people as an appetizer. So, the amount of ingredients to flavor the dish was only 1/2 tsp each as such;
- 1/2 tsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp rice vinegar
- 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
- A pinch of salt
Yes, that’s all we used. Although it was a small dish with minimal ingredients, it is super satisfying with the use of toasted sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds. The acidity from the rice vinegar is surprisingly dominant in the final taste in a positive way. If you don’t have rice vinegar, maybe freshly squeezed lemon juice or lime juice could be a substitution.
Feeling Inspired?
Check out other “low-waste” recipes incorporating veggie scraps (or potentially to-be veggie scraps)!
Quick Sauteed Daikon Radish Peels
Sweet & Savory Daikon Radish Leaves
Asparagus Peels with Sesame (Veggie Scrap Recipe)
Ingredients
- 2 pounds medium to large green asparagus (use only the peels)
- 1/2 tsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp rice vinegar
- 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
- A pinch of salt
Instructions
- Boil water in a small pot.
- In the meantime, start preparing asparagus. Snap off the bottom of asparagus at where it naturally breaks. Discard the bottom parts (or save them for making veggie stock.) Leave the tip of the spears (about 2 inches) and use a vegetable peeler to shave off the remaining part (about 3 to 4-inch length) which will be used in this recipe.
- Prepare an ice bath. In a medium prep bowl, combine water and ice cubes. Set aside.
- Once the water is boiling, add a pinch of salt then add asparagus peels. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Transfer the peels to the ice bath to shock them. Scoop them out and use hands to squeeze water out then transfer to a small or medium prep bowl.
- Combine the asparagus peels, soy sauce, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds. Mix well. Adjust the seasoning with salt if needed.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- The idea of this recipe is to make a dish using veggie scraps. That being said, use medium to large (thick) asparagus so you can get more peels and the remaining is still usable for making another recipe.
